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W6JLF

The Emergency Prepardaredness Committee Chanman is:
Joe Frank, W6JLF, joseph.frank@sti.net

As hams, we have a tremendous amount to offer in the way of communications
and information in times of difficulty, such as winter storms and power outages.
Below are some practical resources that may be helpful to hams as well as the
local community.

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Weather Conditions

One resource that is often overlooked is the National Weather Service automated broadcast at 162.400.
They offer current conditions and forecasts. If you can access the internet, there is weather.com.
They provide 34 different options including multiple Doppler radar views for oiur area by typing in your zip code.

Road Conditions

The California Department of Transportation offers a toll free numb er for current road conditions including
the status of Deadwood pass. It is: 800-427-7623. This same information is also available on the internet at:
www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/ where you can simply type in any highway number and receive up-to-date information with
1 hour accuracy.

Fires

Fire is a major concern here in the mountain area so it is important to keep abreast of the latest of the latest
information at all times. The CDF has a very well laid out site at: www.fire.ca.gov/cdf_incidents/ that has data
on most of their current incidents. Also, try the Pacific Southwest Region Fire and Avition Management Web
Site by the USDA Forest Service which has Local, US & Canadian fire reports. The scanner is also a great
place to get the most up-to-date information. For most fires in the Eastern Madera County, tune to 151.460
(CDF Dispatch) and 151.400 (CDF Support) and for fires on National Forest Land, listen of 172.225. For
additional frequencies, go to our Scanner Frequencies page.

Power Outages

Most people know about PG&E's 800-743-5002 outage info number, but this recording provides general info
for large areas. We all know web sites are useless during power outages, however, if you have battery power
to your radio, the PG&E dispatach can be monitored at 153.560. Monitoring this frequency provides real time
information on what exactly is going on. It's very interesting to note that dujring a recent outage, PG&E's hotline
said power would be restored in 2 hours while the dispatch and field techs were still attempting to locate the
problem.

If even a few of us were to monitor alternate information sources, more valuable information could be relayed
to fellow hams and community citizens which is what we are here for.